The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) reported on Monday that a geomagnetic storm caused by a stream of particles ejected by the sun last week, hit the earth’s magnetic field on Sunday, 1 June.

The geomagnetic storm, which is a disruption of the earth’s magnetic field which shields us from dangerous radiation from outer space, was caused by a large stream of radiation, called a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) released by the sun on 30 May.

“The storm began in the early hours of Sunday morning and persisted through the night,” the South African Space Agency said in a statement on Monday.

Although the severe disruption to the earth’s protective magnetic field had subsided by 11:30 am on Monday, the space agency forecasts that another geomagnetic storm caused by another CME will hit the earth late on Monday, but this one will be much less severe.

Possible disruptions to radio communications

SANSA’s Space Weather Centre, which monitors activity of the sun from Hermanus in the Western Cape, reported on Monday the upcoming geomagnetic storm can cause disruptions in high frequency radio communications, which are used by global navigation satellite systems.